In battle, hoplites fought as a team. They lined up in ranks and locked their shields together with just their spears pointing over the top. This formation was known as a ‘phalanx’.

The phalanx was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons. greek hoplite stock illustrations Vintage ...

Hoplite infantrymen were the military ... They fought primarily in a phalanx, a tightly packed shield and spear formation that might be several ranks deep and many soldiers wide.